courtesy  HT JULY 30Parents want staggered reopening of schools for board classes, says govt
FEEDBACK:  Makes assessment from opinion of parents of students, school heads and academic experts as sought by MHRD on July 17
Navneet Sharma

navneetsharma@hindustantimes.com

Chandigarh : Parents of schoolgoing children in Punjab will be comfortable with reopening of schools only when the Covid-19 situation improves but they are not averse to starting board classes in a staggered manner, according to feedback received by the state government.

The state government gathered this feedback from the parents of schoolchildren, school heads and academic experts after the Union ministry of human resource development (MHRD) on July 17 asked all states and union territories to get the opinions regarding reopening dates of schools. The parents were asked by the state’s school education department about the likely period between August and October when they and their kids will be comfortable with reopening of schools and their expectations from schools as and when the classes resume.

The school education department, on the basis of feedback received from parents, has informed the central ministry that the parents will be comfortable with reopening of the schools only when the situation improves and they are sure that there is no risk to the health of students. “However, there is feedback that at least the board classes can be started with 50% strength of students. Students may be called to the schools on alternate days or once in three days so that there is least loss of studies during this period,” secretary, school education, wrote to MHRD on Tuesday without specifying any timeframe.

The official further said that this will enable the teachers to check the assignments of students and also give them homework.

On expectations from schools whenever they open, it has informed the ministry that the parents expect that all safety measures will be ensured so that there is no risk to the health of their wards due to Covid-19. The feedback on physical classes has been received even as Covid-19 cases have seen a spike this month, going up from 5,568 on July 1 to 14,946 on July 29.

The school education department had sent the communication received from the MHRD to schools with a request to get feedback from parents. Also, discussions were held with the district education officers and school principals through videoconferencing